1 68 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly Aug. 



tree-planting. The only lands which could be made use of 

 for such purposes are — 



1. Roadsides, the more or less wide border of grass found 



in many country places along the roads ; 



2. Little unconsidered corners and plots in and around 



country towns and hamlets ; 



3. Village greens and village commons ; 



4. Railway embankments ; 



5. Churchyards and cemeteries ; 



6. Lands specially granted by landowners for the purpose. 

 Let us consider these in order. 



1. In order to plant roadsides, the various Councils would 

 have to be persuaded or coerced into abandoning their absurd 

 crusade against shady roads. Also the lord of the manor 

 might have a say in the matter. The senseless practice of 

 "layering" hedges, encouraged by the Councils, does more 

 to destroy the beauty of hedgerows, to impair their efBciency 

 as fences, and to ruin their utility as bird-coverts, than any 

 other system of high farming now in vogue. A full well- 

 trimmed hedge of quick or hornbeam, of beech or holly, 

 with the moist ditch below it, gives an ideal shelter and 

 nesting-ground to more than a score of our most desirable 

 birds. Of one species, the red-backed shrike, it is the 

 favourite nesting-ground. To utilise the roadsides would 

 be the most convenient and practicable method of carry- 

 ing out a systematic planting of trees near country towns 

 and villages. 



2. But a beginning might be made experimentally upon 

 the little corners and plots mentioned as a second alternative. 

 Here, too, leave would have to be obtained from some local 

 authority or landowner. Old pounds, generally the recept- 

 acle for garbage of all sorts, might be converted into some- 

 thing much more picturesque and financially useful. 



3. Then there are the village greens and commons. 

 Here common rights of grazing cattle and geese would have 

 to be considered, and moreover, if this difficulty were sur- 

 mounted, great care would be necessary to prevent the 

 beauty of such open spaces being impaired by want of 

 judgment in the planting of the trees. Only a few favoured 

 spots, indeed, have any such common lands. 



